Indian Mujahideen`s Patna blasts mastermind Tehseen Akhtar arrested

In a major breakthrough, the Delhi Police Special Cell on Tuesday arrested militant outfit Indian Mujahideen`s (IM) head of India operations Tehseen Akhtar alias Monu, who was wanted in several terror attack cases.

Jodhpur: In a major breakthrough, the Delhi Police Special Cell on Tuesday arrested militant outfit Indian Mujahideen`s (IM) head of India operations Tehseen Akhtar alias Monu, who was wanted in several terror attack cases.

According to reports, Tehseen Akhtar belonged to the Darbhanga module of the banned terrorist outfit and was heading IM operations in India after Yasin Bhatkal`s arrest in August last year.

Akhtar is believed to have masterminded the serial blasts in Patna and Gaya.

Tehseen`s arrest is a major blow for the Indian Mujahideen as it is without a leader at present.

Earlier in the day, Barkat Ali, an alleged accomplice of suspected IM terrorist Mohd Sakib Ansari, was also nabbed in Jodhpur.

Ali had managed to give the police the slip on Sunday and several police teams had swung into action to catch him.
Ali had allegedly supplied explosives and electronic detonating devices to Sakib, who was trained in making bombs and carrying out explosions by top Indian Mujahideen terrorist Zia Ur Rehman alias Waqas, a Pakistani national wanted in connection with several bombings.

Seizure of handmade maps of circuit diagrams and a diary explaining the procedure of making bombs was a testimony to their intentions, police said.

The investigation by the Jodhpur Police so far has revealed that they were on the brink of launching serial blast in Jodhpur and Waqas was scheduled to arrive in Jodhpur to give the final touch to their plan.
Barkat had managed to escape as he was tipped off by his accomplice Adil about the arrest of Ansari before police could raid his house. Adil was later arrested and several incriminating materials were seized from his house.

A total of five suspected IM terrorists were arrested on Sunday in a joint operation by Delhi Police Special Cell and Rajasthan ATS, reports said.

This is not for the first time that terror modules associated with different outfits have been found to be operating in Jodhpur. About five years back, the ATS had picked up three members of SIMI for their links with the Jaipur blasts.